Scarlet Letter Days
by Moonlit Water Sunny River
Summary: Sometimes love isn't very good for you, but you keep going back for it anyway. Fifty (possibly a hundred) themes about Envy and Greed, spanning both universes. Contains Envy/Greed, some Ed/Envy, Greed/Ed, Dante/Greed and assorted other pairings.
1. Spite

**I've been sitting on a pile of 50 Greedvy Themes for the last few years, and finally started on them! So here's the first one, and if they go really well I might do a full 100.**

**Notes: 2003 canon, pre-series**

**Trigger warnings: emotional/psychological abuse, teeth**

**1\. Spite **

It's a storm outside. Years later, Envy will wonder what it is about the Gate that summons thunderheads – brings the rain hissing down to tear up the ground and light up the sky.

She's going ahead with it. Just to spite him. William – _no, you're not allowed to call yourself that now, _he reminds himself, knocking himself on the head as a reminder – _Envy _tries to be more upset, more surprised, but that's just how she does things. He never liked the man, but what he likes doesn't matter. Envy was created – she knows it's possible, and what it costs. Now it's her turn to try.

From outside his open window, he can hear the groaning sound of the world bending. He isn't supposed to be spying. Dante gave him orders to stay out of the way. He must be _well _out of the way here, up in his room – but she'll find a way to blame him if anything goes wrong. He shrinks into his chair.

Did she really have to do it again? _I'm not supposed to exist, _he's reminded – as if the thought wasn't a constant drumbeat in the back of his head already! - _and it's my fault he left. ...Maybe she'll leave this time. _It's almost cheery, but Envy quails almost immediately afterwards. What would he do _without _her? No, it's not an option. Better the devil he knows.

He buries his nose in his book, pulling his spindly legs up onto his armchair and occasionally glancing outside. He's not sure what he's expecting – a companion, maybe. Or another torturer.

There's a yell from outside, and Envy drops his book, wincing at the sound. "Dammit," he mutters. "Lost my place." Still, his eyes are pulled towards the window. It's been a few hours now since he heard anything. He doesn't remember his own creation with enough clarity to know what to expect, but if he's _right... _

He swallows his nervousness and leans out of the window, bumping his head on the brass latch and scowling. Sure enough, there's movement just outside the warehouse on the grounds. He can hear voices. One of them is Dante's – the other is just a little familiar.

"Where the _hell _am I?"

"This is your home."

"No, this – this isn't right – I – I -"

Envy can't quite hear the rest of it. He leans a little further out the window – _this is interesting – _and suddenly he's windmilling his arms, there's a sickening crunch – and he's opening his eyes to blue sky.

"...Yo."

Envy glances backwards a little, arching his back. There's a vaguely familiar face looking down at him. It's _him. _Dante actually went through with it. _And it worked, _Envy thinks with a dawning sense of... he's not sure whether it's horror, wonder or a mix of both. "Hi."

"I think I'm lost," responds the man.

"Don't worry." Envy pulls himself upwards, dusts off his grubby clothes, tries not to meet the new homunculus's eyes. "You'll get yourself sorted soon enough." His leg clicks back into place, and he's aware that the man is staring at him. "...Stop that," he mutters quietly.

"Envy, go back inside," commands Dante, running up behind them. She looks a little panicked – _good, _he thinks spitefully, and hopes it doesn't show on his face. Instead, he nods.

The man grins at him, displaying a mouthful of razor-sharp, slightly overlarge teeth that his living self definitely had _not _possessed. "Envy, huh? Cute."

"Greed, don't talk to him."

"Greed? Is that my name?"

"It is now."

"Now?"

"Don't talk back."

"Or what? Lady, I don't _know _you."

"I created you!"

"_Did _you? News to me -"

Envy tries very hard to stifle his grin as their voices fade out behind him. And even though Dante has forbidden it – afraid, maybe, that he'll use it to slip out from her grasp, slip away like Hohenheim did – he uses just a fragment of his gift. His mouth bristles, and he smiles, and his teeth are sharp like razors.

She did it just to spite him, but maybe having someone else around won't be so bad after all.


	2. Want

**Oh my god I got like 4-5 follows overnight XD Also, this is my second story called 'Want'... is that bad? That's probably bad.**

**Notes: Brotherhood canon, pre-series**

**Trigger warnings for casual ableist language, swearing, jealousy.**

**2\. Want**

"You have to _choose,_" she hissed, eyes sparking with rage and fury and pain. Greed bit his tongue, trying to keep quiet, but he couldn't.

"Why?"

"_Why? _How can you be so colossally stupid? You don't _need _everything else if you've got me – I can be anything you want, why do you want the rest of it?"

"It's my -"

"I know, I know," she groaned, tugging at her hair. "It's your _nature._" How Envy could put so much contempt in such an innocent statement, Greed would never understand. She slumped against the wall and sank to the ground, but when Greed reached for her, she slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me," she growled.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Fuck off and die, for starters."

"Only person makin' me choose is you, En. Can't you just be happy for me?"

"What, that you can have _everything _you want? Please. You'll never be happy. You'll just want more and more and _more – _why can't you just be content with what you've _got -_" Envy cut herself off, biting her lip. Then she withdrew into herself. Greed knew what that meant. It meant she was done talking.

Still, he wasn't. He squatted down, reaching out again and rubbing a callused thumb over her cheek. "I love you. Isn't that enough?" he murmured softly.

"No." Envy didn't even look at him to say it.

Greed swallowed. "Guess we're done here then." He walked away, still hoping Envy would follow him, waiting for her footsteps, to have something thrown at him, for _something. _It was only when he was well out into the woods that he looked back over his shoulder with a wry, sad grin.

"Guess I can't have everything after all." Then he kept walking.


	3. Apple

**It is pure, unabashed, cheerful, happy fluff.**

**I'm a little ashamed.**

**Notes: 2003 canon, pre-series. The 'lizard/mammal' stuff is a headcanon that I'm probably going to elaborate more on later, but 2003 Envy still associates himself a lot with reptiles even though he technically isn't one.**

**TW for erotic themes, food, some casual ableism.**

**3\. Apple**

He was perfectly, wonderfully, happily, comfortably asleep, the smells of the orchard washing over him with each gentle gust of wind and the high noon sun keeping him warm even in the shade. Yes, Greed was about as content as he could possibly be.

Except that something was tickling his face.

"Oy. Greed."

Greed opened one eye, frowning. Envy was hanging in front of him. Upside-down. "What are you doing?" he mumbled.

"Just hanging out."

"Hilarious." Greed brushed Envy's hair out of his face, but the wind picked it up again. "Get a goddamn haircut. You're shedding all over my pants." He meant it - the sin's hair was long enough to hang like a waterfall down to the ground from where he was hanging. Greed ran his hand through it absentmindedly, then looked up at Envy's legs, which were bent over a low branch. "So are you a monkey now?"

"Nah, I don't like mammals. You know that." Envy flipped back upright with a languid grace, picking an apple from the tree and taking a noisy bite of it. "Squishy and smelly and soft. Bleh."

Greed snorted. "I think you're mixing up mammals and humans, En."

"I think you've mistaken me for someone who _cares._ Besides, you're a mammal. One of the _worst._"

"Hey. _Hey. _You can call me stinky all you like, but calling me soft is a god-damned lie. I'm the Ultimate Shield, you little brat, you can't -" He was interrupted by something bouncing rather solidly off his head. He picked it off the ground. It was another apple.

"Mammal needs to shut up."

"And the little monster needs to stop throwing things." Greed got to his feet, glancing up at Envy, who was perched contently on his branch and still chewing on his fruit. His knees were about level with Greed's head, and Greed rested his chin on them, grinning up at him. "Or I'll come eat you."

Envy scoffed at that, tossing his apple core behind him and rolling his eyes. "Please. You'd need to reach me. And last time you tried climbing, you landed on your ass." At Greed's glare, he snickered. "You looked like a dumbass. It was _hilarious._"

"I have other methods."

"Like what?"

Greed glared at him again, then with a smirk, ran his hands up Envy's thighs, slipping past the hem of his skirt and up to his hips. He laid a kiss on the homunculus's knee, then nipped gently at the underside of his leg, already delicately marked by the rough bark of the apple tree with swirls and ridges. He kissed those too, laughing a little to himself as Envy's legs opened almost of their own accord. "Don't fall off," he murmured. "Would ruin the mood."

"What mood?" grouched Envy, and Greed could almost _hear _his facial expression. "I was eating an apple."

Greed looked up at him, leaning his cheek on Envy's knee. "And I never got one."

"This is an apple tree_, _genius. And I threw one at you!"

"But I'm lazy..."

Envy's cheeks reddened even more, and he leant forward, pressing one of his fingers to Greed's mouth. It was still covered with the sticky sweet juice from the core he'd tossed away, and Greed licked gently at it, watching the other's reaction. Envy was supposed to be the older one, but the way he looked now – a little bit dazed, face caught between sunlight and shadow, bottom lip caught between his sharp teeth – Greed couldn't think of him as anything but eternally young.

Envy bent his head down further, still biting his lip in that infuriating way, and slid his hand around the back of Greed's neck. He almost kissed him -

\- and slid off the branch with a squeak. Greed braced himself, and burst out laughing at how Envy wrapped his legs around him. "I gotcha."

"You'd better," Envy muttered. Greed could feel his cheeks burning against his neck. "Dirty fucking low-down cheater."

"En, if that's news to you..."

"Screw you."

Greed passed up on the obvious joke. "So where do I carry you, then?"

"Dunno. Just..." Envy shifted a little, his arms wrapping over Greed's shoulders. "Don't put me down yet," he said quietly.

"I can manage that." Greed leaned back against the tree-trunk, sliding a hand up the back of Envy's shirt and feeling the way he arched against his touch, skin cold as ice even in the bright, warm sun. "Still think I'm soft?"

"Yup." Envy almost purred, nails ghosting over the node on Greed's back. "Soft and useless. But I think I'll keep you around for a while."

Greed kissed him, the taste of apple still lingering on both their lips. "Works for me."


	4. Human

**This one is a little disjointed but I really really like it. Mostly because oh my god, Greed so _would._**

**TW: depression/self-confidence/self-esteem issues, some casual ableism, death reference/mention, alcohol, PDA **

**4\. Human**

The lights were still on in the house, and Envy could hear their voices rising, falling, laughing. He wasn't jealous. Of course not. He preferred it out here, in the darkness.

He sighed and leaned his head against the tree-trunk, kneading his feet against the grass. Yeah. Out in the darkness. All alone. If Pride had been here, he would have laughed at his self-pity. Lust might have comforted him, kept him company. Gluttony... would have complained about being hungry. He'd barely known Wrath though, and Greed was the last person he wanted to think about.

The firelight flickered and danced through the windows, and Envy closed his eyes. He was alone now. It shouldn't have bothered him – he could have died, so easily, so quickly – but the moment of mercy rankled even more coming from the pipsqueak. And for what? He wasn't human. He'd had a purpose and now that purpose was gone and _now _what was he supposed to do?

Greed had adapted. He and the prince had come to terms with each other, it seemed, and Greed always found a way to adjust. It was just his way. He could always find a niche to slide into, make himself needed. Greed had said that about humans, once, too – always found a way to make it work, to make a situation livable. Always a work-around.

Something creaked. Envy ignored it, eyes still stubbornly closed.

"Oi."

He opened one eye. Greed (with that prince's stupid smirk on his face; Envy _hated _his new face) was bending over him. "Fuck off."

"Still as charming as ever, I see." Greed collapsed on the ground next to him, handing him a beer. Envy pushed it away. "Nice out, innit?"

"What do you want?"

Greed raised an eyebrow, and took another sip from the bottle. "Was just checking on you. Ya don't need to get snippy."

"I don't need your pity," Envy snapped. He regretted it almost immediately. It revealed too much about his misery. Now Greed would sneer at him, maybe laugh -

Instead, Greed lay back, long black hair curling behind him on the grassy knoll. "Check it out."

"What are you doing?"

"Oi, shut up and look," Greed growled, grabbing Envy's shoulder and pulling him backwards, chuckling at his yelp. "Up," he added, pointing with his other hand.

Envy did so. The night sky was full of wispy, half-formed clouds, stars sparkling through them as the wind shifted and changed. "I'm looking. Is this one of your stupid pranks? Cause those were old _last _century. I -"

He cut himself off as a pair of lips pressed against his cheek. A moment later, Greed pulled away, wrapping an arm over Envy's shoulders and leaning his head into the crook of his neck. "Yes," he murmured in reply, and Envy could feel him grinning. He tried desperately to stay angry, but he wasn't sure it was going to work.

"...What do we do now?" he found himself asking. _We. _As if. But it had sounded so natural, almost as if it could still be true.

Greed didn't correct him, or move away. Instead, he pointed back up at the sky. "See that moon?"

"Somehow I never saw you as a stargazer."

"What else have I ever done?" he replied airily. "Besides, you know what Edward says?"

_Edward again. Of course. _It was the easiest thing in the world, to forget you'd been replaced.

"He says that's a chunk of rock."

"A what?"

Greed was grinning like a madman now, the moon reflected in his eyes. "Gigantic chunk of rock, floating out in space."

Envy rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure he was bullshitting you, Greed -"

"You've...you've _met _him, right?"

"...True." Envy sat up, looking down at Greed. "So what, you're telling me you want to figure out how to get to a godforsaken piece of rock that's _literally _in the middle of nowhere?"

Greed shrugged. "Why not?"

"...Humanity really _is _contagious."

Greed moved his eyes from the moon over to Envy, eyes still sparkling. "Come on, tell me it doesn't sound kind of fun. Besides -" he groaned as he sat up, wrapping an arm around Envy's waist. "You _have _to come. Imagine, a whole world, all to ourselves. The trouble we could get into."

"Trouble usually requires other people," he said dryly.

"So we'll bring some! But they have to live on the other side. I don't know. We'll figure it out as we go."

"If this is what you're like trying to live on your own, I have no idea how it took us so long to find you."

But Greed either didn't notice or didn't care about the comment on his skills. He was dreaming again, staring up at the sky. Envy glanced up at the sky again – and maybe it was the same capricious instinct that had gotten him wrapped up with Greed in the first place, but he suddenly felt a little bubble of joy in his chest.

"Oh, _alright. _But we're naming it after me, got it?"

"I think it already has a name, En."

"So we'll rename it." He grinned, feeling Greed's smile reflected on his own face – and suddenly the loneliness was back, all the stronger for his moment of respite.

"En?" Greed sounded concerned – of _course _he did, he'd never seen Envy like this before, because when Envy was upset he lashed out, but this time what could he lash out _at? _He wanted to hit Greed, make him _stop, _but then he'd leave and Envy couldn't bear that, not again, not this time -

He buried his face in Greed's chest, trying not to think about how pathetic he looked as his fingers dug into the soft silk of his shirt. It wasn't the same as the leather – it slid through his fingers too easily. "I don't want your pity," he choked out for the second time that night, gathering his voice as much as he could. "I don't want your mercy, or – or – or to be _coddled, _cause you don't know what else to do with me, or – or -"

He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't. He _wasn't. _Crying was for humans.

(-but down in the tunnels, small and helpless, he'd cried. And Greed hadn't been there. Only mercy had spared him – spared both of them.)

"En, I -"

"Just – _promise me,_" Envy hissed, feeling the tears trace lines down his face like they were acid. "Promise me you mean it."

"I promise."

"Say it."

"I promise you, I mean it. I left you behind twice – I'm not doing it a third time, cause this time I don't have to." The unspoken words were still there, but Envy figured neither of them were quite ready to say them out loud yet.

Envy's fingers relaxed, flattening on Greed's chest. "Good," he murmured. The knot was still there in his throat, but he could feel it starting to dissolve. The tears kept rolling, kept falling – but Greed didn't say anything more, stroking Envy's hair with a tenderness he'd learned somewhere along the way. Envy wondered what he'd seen out there, who he'd met, what he'd done. Out in the world, away from Father, away from their siblings.

"So..." Envy said quietly. "How do we get to the moon?" Such an absurd statement. He loved it. After all, what could be more absurd than two inhuman beasts staring up at the sky and daydreaming? Almost as absurd as two beasts forgiving each other over and over again. Almost as absurd as a reptile wearing a human skin.

"Oh, we start small."

"You just said that."

"I know, isn't it weird? I figure a little patience goes a long way towards getting me what I want."

"So where do we start?"

"Well..." Greed disentangled himself from Envy, taking Envy's hand in his as he stood up. "Before we do anything else -" He nodded his head towards the house, still lit up and resonating with voices and music. "- We go inside and listen to Edward drunkenly rant about space and astronomy and physics and take in as much as we can before he catches on and demands credit."

Envy was on his feet before that sunk in. "Wait, the pipsqueak's _drunk?_"

"It was an accident. I figured with the amount of punishment he can take, he'd have a high tolerance as well!"

"Greed, he's _maybe _five feet."

Greed chuckled sheepishly. "Ling told me it was a good idea. That should have been a warning from the start."

"Oh fuck. I'm going to have to deal with that chirpy little jackass the whole time?"

"We're...working on it." Greed slung an arm around Envy's shoulders, still grinning like a maniac. "Work in progress. How does that sound?" He wasn't talking about Ling anymore.

Envy smiled. "Sounds about right."

Works in progress.

That he could live with.


	5. Friends

**Sorry for the delay! I've been struggling with writer's block for a while, but I finally figured out what I wanted to do with this one. And, of course, it's sad. BACK TO ANGST, EVERYONE**

**FMA Brotherhood with mild AU**

**TW: death**

**5\. Friends**

He'd been there all night. Restlessly, tirelessly, endlessly. Envy supposed it would end eventually, but when Greed stopped digging, Envy would have to decide – and even after hours of thought, he still didn't know what to do.

Twelve graves. Envy hadn't known there'd been that many – he'd counted four or five. Twelve. _More than our siblings, _came the unbidden thought.

Greed was almost done the twelfth. After that, he'd _have _to be done. But he stood up in the shallow grave, wiped his dirt-covered hand over his face, and stood there silently. The sun was rising behind him, drowning him and his fallen friends in orange light.

_What saved him? _Envy found himself wondering. Their information had been right. Pride had taken the military down to clean out Greed's hideout, and slaughtered the chimera where they stood – and Greed had escaped. And Envy had been the only one able to track him, to follow him back to the Devil's Nest as he carried his friends out to the field, the only one there to watch as he washed the blood off their faces, closed their eyes and kissed their foreheads.

Self-preservation, probably. All of the chimera, all of those dumb experiments who had signed on to serve Greed as his loyal vassals, they'd been defending him – and he'd turned and run, too greedy not to save his own skin.

How could any creature be so stupid as to think he'd do anything else?

Greed was still standing silently in the twelfth grave, and then he sat down on the edge, body racked with something that started as a cough and turned into a sob that shook his shoulders. Envy shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't supposed to see this. He was... he was intruding, he realized, the word itself uneasy on his mind.

_Don't cry over them, _he wanted to scream. _They were your tools, _he hissed, tearing Greed back to himself, to the homunculus he was supposed to be, bold and capricious and sadistic. _Don't mourn your possessions. It's not what you do. It's not right._

But still Greed was crying, and unbidden, unsought, came the urge not to scream at him, but to sit next to him and ask their names. He knew some of them. _Martel. Bido. Dorochet. Law. _Others he couldn't even guess. The urge to comfort him. That wasn't right, either.

_Don't be so stupid as to assume he'd want you there._

Hours and hours of waiting, and Envy still didn't know what he was supposed to do.

So he waited some more, and watched as Greed buried his friends, and the unfamiliar feeling of guilt hung between his shoulderblades like a millstone.


	6. Time

**Trying out a poem format for this one! There were a few I was really proud of in BATB so I figured it couldn't hurt to do a couple for this one too. I think this one turned out really nicely**

**FMA 03 **

**TW: drug/alcohol references, death**

Time

We are newborn and old;

dizzy and dangerous

ageless and deathless and fearless

taking on a brand new world that brightens with each footstep.

* * *

You kissed me

with teeth too sharp and hungry lips

and asked me to show you my true face;

I told you this was it

and you laughed at me

and helped me shed my skin.

* * *

Time slips through our fingers like wine;

we get drunk on it, high on the fumes

destroy ourselves and recreate each other as the years slide by

dizzy and dangerous

ageless and deathless and fearless.

* * *

And when you left me,

I was heartless, too

because you took it with you.

Did you even notice -

amidst all your other baggage

and possessions and material things

the broken heart hanging onto your coattails

asking you not to go?

(of course you didn't.

That would have meant

that you looked back.)

* * *

are you immortal when you're asleep?

My prince in the tower

my witch in the well

this is what you get

for hurting me.

(you should have believed me

when I told you I was dangerous.)

* * *

Somewhere I lose count and I forget

the heat of your blood and the pounding of your heart.

Somewhere I lost it

what it felt like to love you.

(and when you leave me a second time

you don't look back at all.)

* * *

you died at home, but i wasn't there

and someday, i might regret that

but for now I just remember how you lied to me.

Because in this world my blood is burning

my hands shake in the cold

and my skin refuses to shed.

In this world, time creeps by on wooden crutches

and sometimes stops dead

and if you were here

i could hammer on your chest

and cry out that you broke your promise

that we would always be

dizzy and dangerous

ageless and deathless and fearless

and this world will be the end of me.


	7. Weakening

**Hello! Been a while, sorry about that. I've got some more ideas for these and for Kenodoxia kai Phlegethon, so I should be a little more active! ...I say that every time, don't I?**

**The prompt is a little odd this time – I sort of incorporated it without ever directly addressing it, so you have to dig a little. But it's there!**

**EDIT: Oh my god I completely forgot. This is a sequel/in the same timeline as Spite!**

**TW for violence, death, alcohol and blood.**

**Weakening**

The first time Greed loses his temper, he's gone for three days. Envy can feel his absence like a lost tooth, or a cavity - he's sure it'll heal, but until it does, it aches and throbs and keeps reminding him of its existence, dragging his attention back to the hole where Greed is supposed to be.

Dante is behaving oddly as well. She keeps making snide remarks and forgetting that only Envy is there to hear them; reaching out for empty air before she looks up; once Envy even sees her give some randomly-chosen picture a death glare. It's funny. Envy never saw her and Greed together when Greed was alive; he assumed it must have been a game for her as much as anything else. He wasn't even completely sure that she hadn't manufactured his death as a testing-ground. But now, he's not so sure, and it's alienating and intriguing in equal degree to see his mother acting so...well, _human._

On the evening of the third day, she snaps. "Go bring him back, already. He's made his point."

Envy's not even sure what they argued about. He wonders if it's worth asking. But even a few years of Greed's influence haven't quite broken him of his subservience, so he nods and gets to his feet.

It doesn't take long to figure out where Greed has gone. Three years as a homunculus aren't enough to erase the traces of his human self, and in Greed, those traces are predictable; gambling, whoring, drinking, general overindulgence. Envy wonders where the line between greed and gluttony really falls, but he's not sure if Dante's ever going to try this particular experiment again after the two utter failures she has on her hands, so it's sort of a moot point.

Anyway, it's pretty obvious. Dublith isn't a large town, and the one bar it boasts may not be hopping, but Envy still finds himself hovering awkwardly by the entrance, trying to decide whether or not to go in and in the meantime being as unobtrusive as possible. (That's a little hard to do when he's a meter and a half tall and your hair still can't decide whether it's black or some waifish shade of grey, but shape shifting isn't all it's cracked up to be.)

Finally, a waitress-bartender-possibly-prostitute saunters out, long skirts ragged at the bottom. "Jackson says to ask if you're gonna be out here all night."

_ Jackson. _Clever. "I'm coming in," he mutters.

"Too right you are. He's run up a tab he can't pay, not with how 'e's bleeding out money at the cards table."

Envy stifles a snicker at that. Serves him right, he thinks as he follows her back inside.

The inside of the bar is dark and smokey, candles giving off some noxious scent probably meant to cover up the smell of alcohol, vomit and piss. They weren't doing a very good job. There had clearly been a fight of some sort, from the number of broken bar stools lying around, and a game of poker in progress in the middle of the room.

"That's it," growled one of the men at the table, dropping his cards and crossing his arms. "I'm not playing against some skint-broke nutter playing hisself bankrupt. Where's the _money_?"

"I told you lads, I'm good for it. In fact -" Greed lifted the brim of his newly-acquired hat and grinned at Envy with his wide, sharp teeth. "Here 'e is now."

Oh good god.

"No," Envy replied flatly, but it was too late. The man who had first spoken rose and turned to face Envy, eyes dark and unamused.

"Alright, kid," and Envy was almost tempted to protest that when he was this tall, he could hardly be mistaken for a _child_, "you got my money?"

"_No,_" he grumbled again. "Jackson here," he said the name as sarcastically as he could, and was rewarded only with Greed's grin spreading even wider in reply, "is getting ahead of himself again."

"Really?" The second man had a voice no louder than a whisper, and had thin, pale lips in a white, blue-eyed face. The hair under his hat was fine and almost translucent, a few long strands hanging over his mouth and moving to punctuate each word. _An albino, _Envy's memory supplied. How interesting. "That's a shame. We'll have to take it out of _someone's _hide."

Envy's eyes dropped to Greed again, who actually had the decency to look a _little _sheepish. "Fine," he groaned.

"Uppity little bugger," the first man snarled, and took a swing at Envy, who dodged just enough to feel the brush of the tough's knuckles over his cheek. He was wearing a ring, Envy noticed as it scratched across his pale skin, before he reached up to grab the man's wrist. With a spin on his heel, his back was pressed against his assailant's chest; half a heartbeat later he yanked the arm down, pushing back and swinging the man over his shoulder into the wall. The man slumped to the ground, legs in the air and hat rolling off to land at the feet of the completely unperturbed waitress/bartender/prostitute.

Envy wiped a drop of blood off his chest, feeling the small cut heal up under his fingers, then turned to the albino man, flipping his long black hair gracefully over his shoulder. "Anybody else?"

Greed laughed at that, arms crossed over his chest. The albino shot him a dirty look, then got to his feet. Envy braced himself, but he didn't see the glint of steel until, with a sickening crunch and a sudden sense of vertigo, it was embedded in his stomach.

He looked down, slightly confused. That had _hurt. _He slapped the knife out of the man's hand, and yanked it out of his stomach with a spurt of blood. "Ow," he said faintly, out of witty words for the moment.

The albino smiled at Envy, teeth off-white and a single gold denture glinting at him - then two dark-blue claws grabbed either side of his head, and the smile only had time to turn into a horrified grimace before Greed snapped his neck and he collapsed on the floor between them like a rag doll.

"Nobody hurts my boy," Greed growled through his fangs. "You okay?"

"You really aren't used to this yet, are you?" The wound in his stomach still hurt like hell, but Envy could feel the skin knitting together under his hand, organs and arteries and veins healing without so much as an internal scar. "I'm fine." Now that the pain was subsiding, he remembered _why _he'd come to this infernal place. "As for _you -_" Envy jabbed his finger into Greed's chest, although it didn't have the effect it should have had, with his skin as unyielding as diamond.

"Yes?"

Damn that stupid shield. Envy could never shake the feeling that Greed was _laughing _at him. He advanced on Greed, eyes flashing. "Sit. _Down,_" Envy hissed, channeling Dante the best he knew how.

Much to his surprise, Greed did as he was told. Envy decided to kick it up a notch. Just for fun. He pokes a finger into the centre of Greed's chest, scowling.

"Take this stupid thing off. You've shown off enough for one night."

Greed nods, and the shield dissipates completely, diamond turning to soft leather under his fingertip. He looks somewhat cowed, and Envy can't help but feel a _little _proud of himself. Despite himself, he splays his hand against Greed's shirt, pressing a little harder until Greed's back is up against the back of the chair.

"You're coming home with me." Envy's voice drops low and quiet. "And next time you decide to play poker with our money, make sure you're not quite so abysmal at it first. Understood?"

Greed nods, still with an unusually contrite expression on his face. Then just as Envy begins to get worried that maybe Greed's been replaced with some miserably obedient spirit, he breaks into another grin. "You're hot when you're mad."

"Oh for - _Get up!_" He tries to grab Greed by the collar, but instead, Greed grabs his waist and pulls Envy onto his lap.

"What's the rush? You came _all _this way to see me, after all."

Envy flushes despite himself, icy cold persona disappearing in an instant. So much for channeling Dante. "I was _ordered _to. And I'm still mad at you, you know. You _wanted_ to see me fight them."

"That was really badass. I've taught you well."

"Not well enough to let me off your lap?" Envy can't help smiling at that, softening the words.

"Ask nicely."

"I'm _older _than you. I don't _need _to be nice."

Greed chuckles at that - and then he takes it one step beyond their usual teasing, head lowering to Envy's neck. There's the sudden sensation of warmth at the edge of his jaw, and Envy can feel every part of him turning absolutely _crimson._ This is – it's _more _than just a few flirtatious words, Greed does that to everyone -

"A-ah!" He can definitely feel Greed laughing at him, snickering in between bites.

"The little monster's sensitive, is he?" he murmurs, tongue darting against Envy's skin.

"The little monster is going to slap you if you keep this up," Envy says breathlessly. He doesn't know _how _to feel. Well, at least his brain doesn't. His hands are dropping of their own accord, shivers running down his spine -

"Well, I suppose if there's a slap on the line, I'd better stop."

And the devil of it is he _does._ Envy whines a little as Greed's mouth pulls away, trying to break the sudden daze that's on him. "You're indecent," he manages to muster. He's not sure indecent covers it anymore.

"Says the boy who looks absolutely _sinful _in those clothes."

"Stop it," Envy says again, and Greed simply inclines his head. "Dante's mad enough at you. Now are you coming back or not."

"I suppose I am." Greed eases Envy off of his lap, then picks his hat up from the ground, tipping it at the bartender. "Sorry about the mess, ma'am."

She shrugs. "I don't hear nothin', I don't see nothin', I don't say nothin'."

"Good woman." Greed starts heading for the door, giving the sprawled, unconscious man by the wall a kick as he goes. The bartender watches him go, then lowers her head back to the glasses she's cleaning.

Envy has a brief flash of jealousy as he wonders whether or not Greed's slept with her. It's likely, he knows, but he can't help but be possessive. It's his nature, after all. And Greed has... well, he's changed everything. Twenty years with Dante and three years with Greed, and everything is different. Dante's even allowed him to shift, and Greed flat-out encourages it.

His hand creeps to his neck, to the small, tender points of flesh where Greed's sharp teeth had brushed against his skin. He's never been touched like that before. Envy wonders if it's a sign of Greed's influence that he finds himself wanting more.

"Well?" Greed's half out the door, and he sidles back in to beckon at Envy. "Come on, you can march me back to her lordliness properly."

He still doesn't have his chest shielded, and Envy's tempted to touch again, feel the tender give of real flesh instead of carbon. But he's still determined enough to keep those boundaries, stop himself from chasing his stray thoughts places he doesn't want to go.

"Yeah. I'm coming."

…Determined enough, for now.


	8. Monsters

**GUESS WHO'S BACK... BACK AGAIN...**

**I fell out of the FMA fandom for a while and a lot of shit happened, but I think I'm back! I'm also heavily on AO3 these days, but I am not up to porting all these stories over just yet. **

**TW for mental illness/hallucinations**

**Monsters**

Out of all the things that came with dating a woman twice his age, Greed mused, Envy was what he'd probably been least prepared for. He'd known Dante had a kid. She'd told Greed about him.

What she'd 'forgotten' to tell him until the night before he moved in was that Envy was living with her because of a schizophrenia diagnosis he couldn't shake. "It's probably not _really _schizophrenia," Dante had said breezily, ignoring his wide-eyed gaze. "Those doctors don't know what they're talking about."

Now, less than a month into living with them, he'd found Envy sitting resolutely on the porch with a length of pipe in his lap. Greed wasn't worried. Envy wasn't dangerous, really – just, y'know, a little out of it. All the same, he tucked his hands into his pockets and walked up the stairs, standing in front of him.

"So, you wanna give me that?"

Envy glared up at him. "Why?"

"C'mon, En. Cops drive by and see that? They already don't like you."

Envy scoffed, then dropped the pipe to the side. "I try to throw myself off a building _once _and everybody thinks I'm a threat to the fabric of society." He propped his elbow on his knee, then flashed a dazzling grin at Greed. "And what has _you _up and about this late at night?"

"Couldn't sleep." Greed held up the bottle of pop in his hand.

"So you're caffeinating yourself. Seems like a wonderful cure."

Greed shrugged, then flopped down on the porch swing next to Envy. "Be nice to me and you get some."

"Ugh. Not worth it." Envy pulled a face, then his eyes were drawn out onto the dark street. There was a gap of darkness where one of the streetlights had gone out. Greed found himself gazing at him longer than he meant to – it was easy to forget during the day that Envy was only a few years younger than him. At night, though, when they had these moments of contact with Dante asleep or away, it was harder and harder to ignore.

Greed took a drink from the soda bottle, then handed it to Envy. "…What are you looking at?" he asked finally.

"You don't want to know," Envy mumbled.

"Want me to poke it with a stick?"

Envy snorted at that, but seemed to appreciate it. "Nah. I know it's not real. I mean, rationally." He flapped his hand distractedly. "You know what I mean."

Greed didn't, really, but he nodded anyway. He lifted his hand to Envy's head, stroking his long hair in what he hoped was a soothing gesture – Envy leant into it, pretending he wasn't, and after a few moments, closed his eyes.

"You should sleep," Greed said after a while. "How long's it been?"

"Um." Envy shrugged. "I'm not tired."

"Uh huh." Greed pulled an exaggerated yawn. "Well, I'm probably going to go downstairs and pass out on the couch in front of a horror movie or something. Y'know, some fun fictional monsters, behind a screen where they can't hurt me."

"You shouldn't watch TV. The government beams brainwashing messages through it."

Greed paused mid-stretch – then glanced over at Envy, who was trying unsuccessfully to stifle his grin. "…I can't believe I'm trying to be supportive and you're fucking with me."

"Being crazy has to be good for _something._" Envy glanced back at the dark bit of the street – then back to Greed. "So, horror movies? Sounds good."

"Well, I _suppose _I could let you hang out –"

And Envy had stolen his soda and headed into the house. Greed grumbled something while getting to his feet – but he had to say, he didn't mind.

(All the same, he took a look over his shoulder, at the shadows on the street. He knew Envy was just seeing things – but it didn't hurt to check.)


End file.
